Pulse Severe
by OxEyed
Summary: Some people get what they deserve, and others take it. Thanks to Jounouchi, Hirutani isn't sure where he falls. Pre-canon, for contest. Rated for language.


**Pulse Severe**

The train came just as Hirutani reached the top of the hill. He stopped to watch. There was no point rushing down yet, not when the railroad was blocked. At least here he could feel the slightest breeze, one barely strong enough to relieve the oppressive heat which had settled over the city sometime yesterday and had effectively forced the city to scuttle back into an air-conditioned paradise and leave the sidewalks to boil alone.

The train was one of the new fast ones, sleek and silver and full of rich, responsible people on their way to god-knows-where. Hirutani didn't care. He didn't give much thought to the other half except to envy the speed at which they fled town in their icy steel carriages. But even that burst of envy lasted only as long as it took for the train to rush by and disappear into a mess of industrial buildings and construction equipment. Money was no good if you have to live in a cage to get it. Money, like life, belonged to those who deserved it, and Hirutani knew that real men took what they deserved, and to hell with the law. The law of the streets was smarter, stronger, meaner, more immediate and more real than any other law in Hirutani's life, and he honored it as if his life depended on it. It was learn or die. _That_ law was simple. Unbreakable. And Hirutani liked it that way.

When the train passed, Hirutani started down the hill. It was so steep that it was more of a cliff, really, but some asshole had been too lazy to add stairs. Not many people used this road for that reason, but it was the easiest way to get to the tracks, so Hirutani was stuck half walking, half jogging, down the slope, using the cracks in the sidewalk as footholds when he lost control of his momentum.

He had seen no one else on his way here: it was too hot and too isolated for any casual walking, but still Hirutani took a cautious look around before he stepped off the sidewalk and onto the railroad. Even though it was quiet enough for him to hear a train coming from miles away, he built to a slow jog. He maintained his pace as he followed the rails until he reached the familiar chain-link fence. Only a hundred yards, but even that was enough to soak his shirt.

He scaled the fence (they'd decided not to rip out an hole, though the precaution seemed idiotic now) and then stopped to examine the abandoned lot, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat out of his eyes.

It wasn't abandoned, not really; it housed storage units, but the property was huge and taking the rails brought Hirutani to the far back end, where there were rarely visitors (or patrols), and it had been easy enough to sneak in and break the lock on one of the more abandoned-looking units. For the last few weeks, the hideout was a carefully guarded secret, known only to Hirutani and a few of his more competent men. Though both terms were debatable, in this case.

Hirutani believed that this secret hideout would prove invaluable whenever he decided what to do with it, but for now the storage unit served as a kind of "officer's club". Hirutani went there on days like today, when he was sick of being bothered by all his stupid kid thugs.

Things would be better once he'd recruited more members. He was hoping to get some of the older kids, maybe a few high-schoolers from Rintama, but it wouldn't be easy. Not many high-schoolers had the kind of ego that wanted to join a gang when the leader was only fourteen, and the ones that did would be useless to him. But he wasn't worried. If he could outfight most of them now, it was only a matter of time before he had the whole neighborhood under his thumb.

He made his way to third row of units, second door on the left. The lock was missing and the door was pulled up a few inches. Someone else had beat him there. Hirutani leaned down, got a firm grasp on the door handle, and yanked up. When the door was a few feet off the ground, he ducked underneath and crouched on the concrete floor. He didn't see anyone, but after a moment he caught side of a pair of ratty sneakers lying beside some cardboard boxes. Jounouchi's. He should've guessed.

Straightening, Hirutani used his foot to push the door back down. He left a few inches for air flow, though the air was so still he doubted it would do much. He started to kick off his shoes, then thought better of it, instead turning to step light-footed around various scattered objects until he got to the back of the unit, where the couch was.

They'd been lucky when they picked this unit to break into. Whoever was using it had left a decent amount of furniture, but not enough junk to make it impassable. Hirutani had already pawned off a few of the pricier items, but most of what was left was junk. He'd have to get some of the guys to haul it down to the river. For now, what wasn't all over the floor was boxed up in crates in the back.

It was behind these crates that he found Jounouchi sprawled out on the floor, shirtless and barefoot. He was so still that Hirutani thought he was asleep, but after a second Jounouchi cracked open an eye and raised his head to look at him.

They regarded each other. Hirutani raised an arm to wipe the sweat from his face. Jounouchi's head fell back to the ground.

"What you doing back here?"

"Hot," Jounouchi said, as if it explained everything, and it did. Even if the air was stale, the darkness gave the small space at least the illusion of coolness.

Hirutani took a step back and sat on the couch. He kicked his shoes off before sprawling back to face the ceiling.

"Colder on the floor."

Hirutani grunted and spread his limbs out over the couch to maximize heat loss. "How long you been here?"

"Dunno. Half an hour."

"Doing what?"

"Sleeping. What do you think?"

"Who knows? Maybe you've been jacking off."

"Ha." Out of the corner of his eye Hirutani saw Jounouchi lift a knee, wiggle it in midair, and let it fall back to the floor. They were both wearing jeans, despite the heat. "Too hot for that, dude."

Hirutani snorted, and the room fell into a comfortable silence. Later, when it got cooler, they'd have to go back and meet up with the rest of the gang, but for now it was too hot to do anything. And this place was perfect to wait out the heat, even without air conditioning. There was no worry of getting interrupted by cops or parents or teachers or rival gang members. Even getting busted by the as-yet-unseen property owners seemed unlikely.

Jounouchi broke the silence first.

"Ran into some guys from the high school today."

"Yeah?" That morning Hirutani had stolen a box of cigarettes off his grandfather's dresser. Now he pulled it out and played with the box, opening and closing it absentmindedly. Too hot to smoke. "Which one?"

"Rintama. They were from that one guy's gang. You know, the tall one. Curly hair."

"Kenji."

"Yeah."

Even if Hirutani wasn't going to smoke, it wouldn't hurt to have a cig in his mouth. He opened the box. "So? What's you do?"

"What do you think?" Jounouchi's position shifted slightly and Hirutani heard him fumbling in the darkness. Then something hit the back of the couch above his chest and fell on top of him.

A wallet. Not Jounouchi's. Hirutani put the cigarette in his mouth, sucking on it as he examined the wallet. He could barely see, but it was enough to tell that it held nothing interesting. An id belonging to someone he didn't recognize (it was too dark to read the name), a train pass, a few faded nudes. Expired condoms. Loose change.

"There's a few hundred yen behind the ID," Jounouchi said lazily. "You can have it if you want."

_If you want_. Hirutani's lips clamped around the cigarette. "What does that mean?"

"It means if you don't want it, give it back."

There was no room for hesitation. Hirutani tossed the wallet back. It pissed him off when Jounouchi did this. Showed off. If it had been anyone else, Hirutani would have taken the money. It was _his _gang, after all. But Jounouchi had to show off, had to act like he was _giving_ Hirutani something he didn't deserve, had to make it sound like Hirutani actually _needed_ his goddamn pity. Without Hirutani, Jounouchi would be nothing. And yet the ungrateful little bastard had brought up the money, even though he didn't have to, even though they both know Hirutani wouldn't have if their roles were reversed.

That pissed Hirutani off the most: the fact that _nothing_, not threats or guilt or force could make Jou act the way he was supposed to. He couldn't even punish Jounouchi now without looking petty.

"I'm only warning you once," he said, settling back into the couch. "Don't you dare try and play games with me."

Jounouchi only sighed in the darkness, and the inevitable _or what?_ hung unsaid in the air between them, stretching thinner and thinner as the moments passed. Hirutani should have ignored it, had fully intended on it, but the words Jounouchi refused to say nagged at him until he couldn't stand it anymore and sat up.

"The hell is your problem, anyway?"

"Huh?" Jou sounded surprised, as if he'd forgotten what they were talking about. He probably had, the bastard.

Hirutani took a deep breath, flopped back into the couch. He'd forgotten that Jounouchi was a waste of space when not in motion. "Forget it," he said. "You're a fucking asshole."

Jounouchi only stretched out his arms above his head and yawned violently, his spine arching up into the air. "So shoot me."

"You aren't worth it."

Jounouchi only grunted in response. After a moment, he flipped over onto his stomach, and a single bare foot rose into the air. Hirutani watched weave through the darkness like a pale cobra until his anger gave way to apathy and he turned to face the ceiling.

"It's too fucking hot."

Jounouchi spoke into the floor, his voice muffled. "Your house has AC."

"Yeah, smartass, and it's also got my sonuvabitch grandad and his sonuvabitch girlfriend. You got any other bright ideas?"

Jounouchi's foot stop waving, and suddenly he rolled over and sat up. "You know where else there's AC?"

"_Your_ house?"

"Ha, ha." Jounouchi's voice lowered, and he leaned forward. "You know the garage down the street from Shichiro's place?"

"Don't be so fucking stupid. This time of day, it'll be swarmed with Rintamas."

"So? I bet we could take them."

"Even if we could—" Hirutani stopped. Fact was, any other day he just might take the risk. Fighting was fighting, and since Jounouchi had decided that today was a good day to be a little prick, Hirutani was itching for a fight.

Even in the dark, he can tell that Jounouchi's legs was tensed, ready to spring up at his word. But Hirutani relaxed back into the couch. This was better. _Control_ was better. Jounouchi didn't deserve to get his kicks. Not today.

"Fuck that," he said casually. "It's way too hot."

Jounouchi went still. "Are you kidding me?"

"Look, I'm not about to go get fucked up just because _you _want to get your ass kicked. You wanna fight so bad, go by yourself."

"Don't tell me you—"

"Just _shut the hell up_, Jounouchi."

Another warning wasn't necessary. Jounouchi got the point. When he didn't say anything else, Hirutani closed his eyes, chewed on his cigarette, and listened to the muffled sounds that told him Jounouchi was now fidgeting, now dragging his feet along the concrete floor, now lying back down, now sighing deeply.

The heat seeped in, slowly, drowning both boys in a sullen haze. When Jounouchi's breath evened out, Hirutani knew he had fallen asleep. Even if he hadn't planned on sleeping, the heat was a better narcotic than most drugs, and after a few minutes Hirutani's mind entered a dense fog populated only by stray incomprehensible ideas. Eventually, even those faded into a kind of benign static.

He didn't move until he heard the stunningly loud grumble of the door being pushed up, and as he opened his eyes, squinted, turned, he saw Jounouchi in the doorway, both arms stretched over his head as he held onto the door and leaned out to peer down the gravel walkway. Hirutani's eyes adjusted, and he saw that the light had faded some, that the sky was more grey than blue, that a strong gust of wind pasted Jounouchi's shirt to his skin and filled the unit with a burst of lukewarm air.

"What the hell you doing?" Damn, he was groggy. He should've known he'd fall asleep. This heat was murderous.

Jounouchi's voice sounded disembodied, distorted by the wind as it reached to the back of the unit. "Thought I heard thunder."

"So?"

Jounouchi shrugged.

Hirutani pulled himself to a sitting position and found his half-chewed cigarette in his lap. He fumbled around for a lighter, but when he didn't find it right away, he gave up, threw the cigarette away, and focused on pulling on his tennis shoes.

"What time is it?"

Jounouchi rubbed the back of his hand across his face. "Beats me." He turned back to look at Hirutani. "You fall asleep too?"

With the light coming in from outside, Hirutani couldn't see Jounouchi's face. He bent over to re-tie his shoes and ignored the question.

Jounouchi didn't seem to notice. He followed Hirutani's lead, plopping down on the concrete to pull on his own shoes. After a moment Hirutani got up to his feet and joined him in the doorway.

The incoming clouds did darken the sky, but it wasn't dark enough for it to be night. It didn't tell Hirutani much. He wasn't sure if one hour had passed or four.

The wind was barely cooler than the rest of the air, but it was moving, and that at least cleared Hirutani's head a little. He glanced down at Jounouchi, who had finished tying his shoes and was now carefully picking at a scab on his palm, tongue pressed to the corner of his mouth.

"Think it'll rain?"

Jounouchi looked up. There was a faint shadow of a bruise along his jawbone. "Hard to tell. Depends if those clouds are comin' or goin'."

Hirutani looked up and reassessed the sky. Rain or not, the air was alive with electricity, and he could feel the energy in the air. If this kept up, every gang in town would soon be on the prowl.

"Let's find the others," he said.

"Eh…" Jounouchi stood up, head lolling as he stretched his neck. "We can handle ourselves."

"Not if every other gang is running around full numbers, we're not. Use your head once in a while." Hirutani turned. "Where's your shirt?"

"At home, I guess. Why?"

Hirutani growled under his breath. Stupid bastard. "Forget it. Let's lock up."

Jounouchi crouched down to pick up the padlock, tossed it to Hirutani, and then pulled the garage door down. Hirutani locked it. The lock had been stolen from school, but this way it wasn't so obvious that the unit had been broken into and it kept the place somewhat secure.

The breeze was invigorating, and Hirutani found himself looking forward to the fights that were definitely coming. Jounouchi felt it too, probably more strongly; his pace nearly doubled Hirutani's, he kept starting, turning, stopping, stepping back, dancing to-and-fro with anticipation and irritation, his shoulders hunched, his eyes bright. Hirutani fought to live, but Jounouchi lived to fight, and even if he was an annoying ass the rest of the time, he earned his place in the gang simply by being able to outlast and outpunch anyone who wasn't Hirutani.

That wasn't a problem. The problem was that Hirutani couldn't outlast or outpunch Jounouchi, either. Only Jounouchi's goddamn idiocy kept him in his place, but lately Hirutani had realized that it wasn't going to be enough.

They scaled the fence and started down the train tracks, Hirutani warier than Jounouchi, careful of any possible ambush. If Jounouchi was so antsy after sleeping all afternoon, a gang that had been feeding off each other's boredom and anger for hours could be many times more bloodthirsty.

They're halfway back to the street when Jounouchi stopped suddenly, head raised and knees poised. Like a hunting dog would, Hirutani thought, and then Jounouchi was stepping briskly back toward him, the grin across his face growing wider and more manic by the second.

"On your left, down the alley," he murmured when he got into earshot. "Five of them."

Hiritani said nothing and kept walking, but there was a space between the buildings where he could see through to the opposite street, and when he passed it, he peered down to see the distant figures of five men on the opposite end. It was too far to see who they were, but they were tall, taller than either Jounouchi or Hirutani. Probably high schoolers. In another time and place, Hirutani would have been happy to take them on, but today he was so pissed with Jounouchi that his enthusiasm only makes Hirutani more dead-set on denying him.

"Not today," he said. "Don't have time."

"The hell we don't." Jounouchi quickened his pace and spun, stopped, feet planted in front of Hirutani. "You know they're just asking for it."

"_You're _asking for it," Hirutani said dryly. "Now fuck off and leave it."

"You saying we can't take 'em?" Jou's eyes were insistent, challenging. He wouldn't forgive Hirutani if he backed out now, not with the promise of a fight on the horizon, not when Hirutani had already denied him once today.

"I'm _saying_," Hirutani started, his exasperation getting the better of him. "That I have more important things to do. You want to fight them so bad, take them on by yourself."

In the silence, Hirutani grinned, issuing a challenge of his own, and _finally_, he saw Jounouchi hesitate. Five guys was a lot, and five older, bigger guys was even worse. Even Jounouchi would struggle to make it out alive with those odds.

But Jounouchi didn't back down. His eyes narrowed, and he nodded, curtly. And he turned, and started walking, and then he was sprinting, jumping off the rails and onto the street, disappearing down the mouth of the alley before Hirutani could even think to call him back.

Hirutani watched him go, half stunned, half pleased. Finally he shook his head. "Fucking moron."

He had no choice but to follow, though he opted to walk rather than run. When he reached the street he hopped up off the rails and took a few steps inside the alley, just enough for the shadows to make it a little less obvious that he was watching.

He could barely see Jounouchi's sillhouette, it was blocked by the others, but he could hear the raised voices, the threatening slap of fists against palms, the back end of a slur (Jounouchi's) about someone's parentage.

But there was no mistaking when the fight did start, and Hirutani leaned against the wall of the alley, keeping an eye of Jounouchi's progress.

He didn't expect Jounouchi to win. Hell, he didn't think Jounouchi even expected _himself_ to win, but that didn't mean he wouldn't put up a good fight. Jounouchi had the advantages of speed and surprise, and he got first blood, laying one boy out cold before the others had even realized what was happening. Only a second later Hirutani saw another reel back with his hands over his face. Broken nose.

But after the first few seconds, Jounouchi's advantages ran out, and the three remaining thugs closed in on him, and even though Hirutani couldn't see exactly what was happening, he was sure that he heard Jounouchi fall. Fucking moron. Still, he waited a few seconds before he took his hands out of his pockets and moved into a brisk jog that soon turned into an all-out sprint.

Somewhere before he collided with the group, Hirutani noticed, a little absentmindedly, that the wind was starting to howl.

As he expected, the thugs were far more preoccupied with Jounouchi to see Hirutani as he barreled into the side of the closest one, thrusting his fist under the guy's ribs and using his other hand to grab his collar and pull him backwards and off-balance. The guy fell against Hirutani, and the weight gave him enough momentum to take a few steps back before the other two could react to his presence.

When they turned toward him, he dropped the third, kicked him fiercely in the back of the head to make sure he wasn't getting up anytime soon, and skipped back a few more feet, carefully keeping his distance until they've come forward far enough.

No sign of weapons. Whether they didn't have them or hadn't thought to draw them was anybody's guess. All Hirutani knew was that Jounouchi was pretty damned lucky. He raised his fists and grinned at the two high-schoolers who, by now, were pissed as hell.

"So come on."

They lurched forward, and Hirutani saw a flash of motion that could only be Jounouchi behind the guy on the left. Grin widening, Hirutani leapt for the guy on the right.

They exchanged a few punches, only long enough for Hirutani's target to realize he was on his own and flee, stumbling, for the mouth of the alley. Hirutani let him. As far as he was concerned, the fight had been ruined before it had started.

Jounouchi was standing now, rubbing a hand across his face. There was blood, but Hirutani had no idea whose it was or where it had come from. He wasn't sympathetic. The first guy he had taken down had banged his head against Hirutani's on the way to the ground, and he could feel his lip swelling as he glanced around the alley, making sure there were no other targets.

In all, two had gotten away. The last one and the one with the broken nose. None of the others moved. Hirutani wasn't surprised. Jounouchi hit well, and he hit _hard_.

Jounouchi laughed, shakily, pushing his bangs out of his hair. His hand left a streak of blood in his hair. "Awesome," he said. "I knew you—"

Hirutani's fist collided with his jaw before Jounouchi could say anything else. Jounouchi stumbled back and landed against the wall, where he pressed a hand to his face and glared sullenly at Hirutani through his fingers.

"The fuck, man?"

"What _the fuck_ is wrong with you?" Hirutani knew how to speak coldly, had been practicing for years, and still he couldn't help the slight shriek that edged its way into his voice.

"Hey, you _told_ me—"

"Because I thought even _you_ would know how to take a hint. If I hadn't—"

"Oh, don't pretend like you actually give a shit, Hirutani. You're just pissed cause I'm not as much of a pussy as you."

"Yeah? Say that again and you'll see just how pissed I am. I should have just let them kill you."

Jounouchi's expression was murderous, but Hirutani matched it (in that, at least, he had Jounouchi beat) and finally Jounouchi snorted and looked away, pushing himself away from the wall and turning slightly to glance up at the still darkening sky.

"Maybe," he said. "Anyway, let's get out of here."

Hirutani swore, but Jounouchi just started walking, as if nothing had happened. Hirutani couldn't do much more than let out a long breath and shrug, shoving his hands back in his pockets. He overcame Jounouchi easily and led the way out of the alley.

They started back up the hill. Jounouchi was limping and lagged behind, but that suited Hirutani just fine. Aside from the distant ominous rumble of thunder and the muted howl of the wind, the streets were silent. It seemed that even with the upcoming storm, it was too hot to be outside.

When they reached the next intersection, Hirutani stopped and looked back. Jounouchi was still halfway up, and didn't seem to notice that Hirutani had stopped. He seemed deeply fascinated by the pattern of cracks on the concrete.

Hirutani raised his voice. "Jounouchi."

A jerk of the head toward him was all the acknowledgement Hirutani got. He sighed.

"Go home."

Then Jounouchi did look up. He hadn't bothered to clean off most of the blood on his face. There was more on his bare chest and hands, too, and bruises that still hadn't fully bloomed. He might have looked intimidating if he had been older.

"Hey, I'm fine—"

"I don't care about _that_." Hirutani said casually. "You're pissing me off. I don't want to look at you."

The sky brightened suddenly as lightning flashed somewhere behind them. Jounouchi raised an elbow to his nose, wiped, then took a step closer. "I won't do anything—"

"Oh yeah? Like you didn't pick a fight with those guys, like you haven't been a little shit all day—"

"What do you want me to do? I—"

"I want you to do what I _fucking say_!"

A low rumble of thunder, overwhelming loud, and drowned out Hirutani's last few words, but the message came across loud and clear. Hirutani saw that Jounouchi's mouth was open, that he wanted to say something, and beat him to it.

"Either you stay in your fucking place," he said. "Or you'll regret it. I don't care how good you are in a fight. I'll make you pay if you piss me off again." He turned away a little and patted his pockets, trying to find his cigarettes. He needed a good smoke.

Jounouchi didn't say anything, just resumed his slow climbing. Hirutani ignored him, focused on his cigarettes. If Jounouchi insisted on following him, it would just give Hirutani an excuse to prove that he was serious.

But Jounouchi stopped when he reached the top of the hill. Just as Hirutani was lighting up, the sky flashed again, and this time the roll of thunder came immediately afterward. And Jounouchi jerked into motion, turned left, away from the hideout and toward his home. Hirutani watched him go, and suppressed the urge to call him back, because the look that had been on Jounouchi's face when he turned wasn't anger.

It was satisfaction.

Suddenly Hirutani was starting after him, but he only took one step forward when Jou threw a hand up in the air in a token gesture of farewell, and Hirutani stopped short, took a deep, angry breath. Jounouchi would be back. Of course he would be back. He didn't have a choice. That's what being in a gang meant.

Hirutani turned around, put his cigarette to his mouth.

"Fucking bastard."

Jounouchi would get what was coming to him, but not tonight. Sometime, somehow, Hirutani would force Jounouchi under his thumb. But there was no need to hurry. Jounouchi would act out again, and Hirutani wouldn't let himself get caught off guard next time. And there _would_ be a next time; Hirutani was sure of it.

After all, there was nowhere else to go.

**End**

* * *

_A pulse severe storm is a brief (20-30 minute) thunderstorm with strong effects (hail, heavy rain, weak tornadoes). __Relatively rare, they are often unstable and appear randomly, making them nearly impossible to predict._

_Keep in mind that I barely understand meteorology and this definition might be slightly off, but it works for the purposes of the title. _


End file.
